This invention relates to a foam insulation system and, in particular, to a system for automatically producing high quality insulation.
Conventionally, in most foam insulation systems, a resin and a foaming agent are brought together within the mixing chamber of an application gun and the mixture is then quickly injected into a wall cavity or the like. Upon entering the cavity, the material, which is a heavy lather, rapidly fills the cavity region and hardens into a uniform structure to provide a thermal and/or acoustical barrier. The time it takes the mixture to gel and the proportions in which the materials are mixed are critical parameters in the application process.
Heretofore, most efforts concerning the proper blending of materials have been directed toward improving the pump that is employed to bring the materials from a supply reservoir to the mixing chamber of the gun. However, it has been found that other factors such as dirt in the lines, the twisting and/or bending of the flexible hoses carrying materials to the gun or even changing the elevation of the gun will also adversely disturb flow rates.
The gel time of the mixture is most prominently affected by temperature. Usually an applicator will prepare his materials based on the manufacturer's recommended values for the air temperature expected at the time of application. However, as is often the case, the actual temperature is seldom the same as the predicted and any variance above or below the predicted value again adversely affects the quality of the insulation. The temperature of the receiving cavity, when different from the material temperature, can also act to reduce the quality of the foam produced.
Heretofore, most applicators of foam insulation have been required to manually monitor their systems in an effort to see that acceptable foam is being applied. These attempts to make manual adjustments result in a good deal of wasted time and oftentimes end in failure. As a consequence, a good deal of defective insulation is manufactured which results in the wasting of valuable energy.